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Time of India
21 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Disney to lay off hundreds across entertainment divisions amid shift to streaming
The Walt Disney Company is cutting several hundred jobs across its film and television divisions, a Disney spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY. The layoffs, which formally took effect on Monday, June 2, impact departments involved in marketing, publicity, casting, development, and parts of corporate finance. No entire teams are being dissolved, the company said. A Disney representative attributed the decision to the 'rapid pace' of industry transformation and the company's push to 'operate more efficiently.' This move is the latest in a series of cost-cutting measures implemented since CEO Bob Iger returned to helm the company in 2022. In early 2023, Iger announced that Disney would lay off 7,000 employees to reduce spending by billions of dollars. That plan has since unfolded through multiple rounds of layoffs. In September 2024, Disney cut around 300 positions in corporate functions such as legal, HR, and communications. Earlier layoffs affected Disney-owned brands including National Geographic, Pixar, and Freeform. In March 2025, the company trimmed another 200 jobs—nearly 6% of its workforce in ABC News and Disney Entertainment Networks. Despite the cuts, Disney reported strong financial results. According to its Q2 2025 earnings report, revenue rose to $23.6 billion, a 7% year-on-year increase. Subscriber numbers for Disney+ also climbed by 126 million in the first quarter, reflecting the accelerating shift in consumer preferences toward streaming platforms. As of its latest fiscal year ending September 2024, Disney employed approximately 233,000 people worldwide. Meanwhile, Disney's theme parks are also facing challenges. At Walt Disney World in Florida, employees under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) were recently informed they must provide updated work authorization documents or risk being placed on leave. The notification followed a U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding the Trump-era decision to end TPS protections for about 350,000 Venezuelans. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
21-05-2025
California cop was partying at festival while collecting $600,000 for fake injury, officials say
LOS ANGELES -- A Southern California police officer was caught partying at the Stagecoach Music Festival while collecting more than $600,000 in workers' compensation for a head injury that prosecutors allege was faked. Westminster officer Nicole Brown, 39, was charged Monday with 15 felonies of workers' compensation and insurance fraud, the Orange County District Attorney's office said. She faces up to 22 years in prison if convicted. Brown was on the job March 21, 2022, when she received a 'minor abrasion' to her forehead while trying to arrest an uncooperative suspect, according to prosecutors. She told her watch commander that she had a headache and was feeling dizzy. Though an emergency room doctor who examined her that day released her back to work without restrictions, she called out sick for several days and was diagnosed with a severe concussion about a week after the initial injury. She was placed on Total Temporary Disability, which made her eligible to receive her full salary for up to a year and two-thirds of her salary after that. Later, investigators would find out that during the three days she called out sick after her injury, Brown went to several soccer conferences in San Diego. In the following year while collecting disability, she also ran in two 5K races, went snowboarding or skiing in Big Bear and Mammoth, attended baseball games, played golf, went to Disneyland and took online courses with a local university, prosecutors allege. 'Mrs. Brown suffered a significant head injury when she was on duty,' her attorney Brian Gurwitz said, 'and she intends to vigorously fight these allegations.' According to prosecutors, some of Brown's ongoing symptoms that she reported during this time were: headaches, dizziness, sensitivity to light and noise, and inability to look at a screen. The district attorney's office began their investigation into potential fraud after she was seen by several people 'dancing and drinking" in April 2023 at the Stagecoach Music Festival, an annual country music festival held in the Coachella Valley with 'loud music and bright lights everywhere." This was reported to the Westminster Police Department. Three days after the festival, Brown and her stepfather attended a Zoom meeting where she sat in a dark room and said she was unable to look at the screen. Her stepfather said she still could not do paperwork or take phone calls. After the meeting, she was admitted to an inpatient center for traumatic brain injury. Prosecutors say Brown collected more than $600,000 from the city of Westminster, which includes her full salary and medical expenses. Her stepfather Peter Schuman, 57, of Buena Park, has also been charged with two felonies related to insurance fraud and helping commit a crime. He is a licensed attorney in California and faces discipline from the state bar, prosecutors said. Schuman does not have an attorney listed and could not be reached for comment. Brown was sworn into the Westminster Police Department in February 2019, according to Behind the Badge
Toronto Sun
21-05-2025
- Toronto Sun
California cop was partying at festival while collecting $600,000 for fake injury, officials say
Published May 21, 2025 • Last updated 10 minutes ago • 2 minute read Judge's gavel and scale in the background. Photo by simpson33 / iStock / Getty Images LOS ANGELES — A Southern California police officer was caught partying at the Stagecoach Music Festival while collecting more than $600,000 in workers' compensation for a head injury that prosecutors allege was faked. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Westminster officer Nicole Brown, 39, was charged Monday with 15 felonies of workers' compensation and insurance fraud, the Orange County District Attorney's office said. She faces up to 22 years in prison if convicted. Brown was on the job March 21, 2022, when she received a 'minor abrasion' to her forehead while trying to arrest an uncooperative suspect, according to prosecutors. She told her watch commander that she had a headache and was feeling dizzy. Though an emergency room doctor who examined her that day released her back to work without restrictions, she called out sick for several days and was diagnosed with a severe concussion about a week after the initial injury. She was placed on Total Temporary Disability, which made her eligible to receive her full salary for up to a year and two-thirds of her salary after that. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Later, investigators would find out that during the three days she called out sick after her injury, Brown went to several soccer conferences in San Diego. In the following year while collecting disability, she also ran in two 5K races, went snowboarding or skiing in Big Bear and Mammoth, attended baseball games, played golf, went to Disneyland and took online courses with a local university, prosecutors allege. 'Mrs. Brown suffered a significant head injury when she was on duty,' her attorney Brian Gurwitz said, 'and she intends to vigorously fight these allegations.' According to prosecutors, some of Brown's ongoing symptoms that she reported during this time were: headaches, dizziness, sensitivity to light and noise, and inability to look at a screen. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The district attorney's office began their investigation into potential fraud after she was seen by several people 'dancing and drinking' in April 2023 at the Stagecoach Music Festival, an annual country music festival held in the Coachella Valley with 'loud music and bright lights everywhere.' This was reported to the Westminster Police Department. Three days after the festival, Brown and her stepfather attended a Zoom meeting where she sat in a dark room and said she was unable to look at the screen. Her stepfather said she still could not do paperwork or take phone calls. After the meeting, she was admitted to an inpatient center for traumatic brain injury. Prosecutors say Brown collected more than $600,000 from the city of Westminster, which includes her full salary and medical expenses. Her stepfather Peter Schuman, 57, of Buena Park, has also been charged with two felonies related to insurance fraud and helping commit a crime. He is a licensed attorney in California and faces discipline from the state bar, prosecutors said. Schuman does not have an attorney listed and could not be reached for comment. Brown was sworn into the Westminster Police Department in February 2019, according to Behind the Badge, a publication reporting on law enforcement news in California. Canada Canada Toronto Maple Leafs Golf Columnists
Hindustan Times
21-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
California cop was partying at festival while collecting $600,000 for fake injury, officials say
LOS ANGELES — A Southern California police officer was caught partying at the Stagecoach Music Festival while collecting more than $600,000 in workers' compensation for a head injury that prosecutors allege was faked. Westminster officer Nicole Brown, 39, was charged Monday with 15 felonies of workers' compensation and insurance fraud, the Orange County District Attorney's office said. She faces up to 22 years in prison if convicted. Brown was on the job March 21, 2022, when she received a 'minor abrasion' to her forehead while trying to arrest an uncooperative suspect, according to prosecutors. She told her watch commander that she had a headache and was feeling dizzy. Though an emergency room doctor who examined her that day released her back to work without restrictions, she called out sick for several days and was diagnosed with a severe concussion about a week after the initial injury. She was placed on Total Temporary Disability, which made her eligible to receive her full salary for up to a year and two-thirds of her salary after that. Later, investigators would find out that during the three days she called out sick after her injury, Brown went to several soccer conferences in San Diego. In the following year while collecting disability, she also ran in two 5K races, went snowboarding or skiing in Big Bear and Mammoth, attended baseball games, played golf, went to Disneyland and took online courses with a local university, prosecutors allege. 'Mrs. Brown suffered a significant head injury when she was on duty,' her attorney Brian Gurwitz said, 'and she intends to vigorously fight these allegations.' According to prosecutors, some of Brown's ongoing symptoms that she reported during this time were: headaches, dizziness, sensitivity to light and noise, and inability to look at a screen. The district attorney's office began their investigation into potential fraud after she was seen by several people 'dancing and drinking" in April 2023 at the Stagecoach Music Festival, an annual country music festival held in the Coachella Valley with 'loud music and bright lights everywhere." This was reported to the Westminster Police Department. Three days after the festival, Brown and her stepfather attended a Zoom meeting where she sat in a dark room and said she was unable to look at the screen. Her stepfather said she still could not do paperwork or take phone calls. After the meeting, she was admitted to an inpatient center for traumatic brain injury. Prosecutors say Brown collected more than $600,000 from the city of Westminster, which includes her full salary and medical expenses. Her stepfather Peter Schuman, 57, of Buena Park, has also been charged with two felonies related to insurance fraud and helping commit a crime. He is a licensed attorney in California and faces discipline from the state bar, prosecutors said. Schuman does not have an attorney listed and could not be reached for comment. Brown was sworn into the Westminster Police Department in February 2019, according to Behind the Badge, a publication reporting on law enforcement news in California.
Gulf Today
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Gulf Today
Fear shadows many children in immigrant families
Jocelyn Gecker, Associated Press Denver: For the last two months of their life in the United States, José Alberto González and his family spent nearly all their time in their one-bedroom Denver apartment. They didn't speak to anyone except their roommates, another family from Venezuela. They consulted WhatsApp messages for warnings of immigration agents in the area before leaving for the rare landscaping job or to buy groceries. But most days at 7:20 a.m., González's wife took their children to school. The appeal of their children learning English in American schools, and the desire to make money, had compelled González and his wife to bring their 6- and 3-year-old on the monthslong journey to the United States. They arrived two years ago, planning to stay for a decade. But on Feb. 28, González and his family boarded a bus from Denver to El Paso, where they would walk across the border and start the long trip back to Venezuela. Even as immigrants in the US avoid going out in public, terrified of encountering immigration authorities, families across the country are mostly sending their children to school. That's not to say they feel safe. In some cases, families are telling their children's schools that they're leaving. Already, thousands of immigrants have notified federal authorities they plan to "self-deport," according to the Department of Homeland Security. President Donald Trump has encouraged more families to leave by stoking fears of imprisonment, ramping up government surveillance, and offering people $1,000 and transportation out of the country. And on Monday, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to strip legal protections from hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan immigrants, potentially exposing them to deportation. Without Temporary Protective Status, even more families will weigh whether to leave the US, advocates say. Departures in significant numbers could spell trouble for schools, which receive funding based on how many students they enroll. "The amount of fear and uncertainty that is going through parents' heads, who could blame somebody for making a choice to leave?" said Andrea Rentería, principal of a Denver elementary school serving immigrant students. "I can tell them as a principal that I won't let anybody in this school. Nobody is taking your kid. But I can't say the same for them out in the workforce or driving somewhere." When Trump was elected in November after promising to deport immigrants and depicting Venezuelans, in particular, as gang members, González knew it was time to go. He was willing to accept the tradeoff of earning just $50 weekly in his home country, where public schools operate a few hours a day. "I don't want to be treated like a delinquent," González said in Spanish. "I'm from Venezuela and have tattoos. For him, that means I'm a criminal." It took González months to save up the more than $3,000 he needed to get his family to Venezuela on a series of buses and on foot. He and his wife didn't tell anyone of their plan except the single mom who shared their apartment, afraid to draw attention to themselves. Telling people they wanted to leave would signal they were living here illegally. They sent their children to their Denver school regularly until late February, when González's phone lit up with messages claiming immigration agents were planning raids inside schools. That week, they kept their son home. "Honestly, we were really scared for our boy," González said. "Because we didn't have legal status." In the months following Trump's inauguration, Denver Public School attendance suffered, according to district data. Attendance districtwide fell by 3% in February compared with the same period last year, with even steeper declines of up to 4.7% at schools primarily serving immigrant newcomer students. The deflated rates continued through March, with districtwide attendance down 1.7% and as much as 3.9% at some newcomer schools. Some parents told Denver school staff they had no plans to approach their children's campus after the Trump administration ended a policy that had limited immigration enforcement at schools. The Denver school district sued the government over that reversal, saying attendance dropped "noticeably" across all schools, "particularly those schools in areas with new-to-country families and where ICE raids have already occurred." A federal judge ruled in March the district failed to prove the new policy caused the attendance decline. Data obtained from 15 districts across eight additional states, including Texas, Alabama, Idaho and Massachusetts, showed a similar decline in school attendance after the inauguration for a few weeks. In most places, attendance rebounded sooner than in Denver. From 2022 to 2024, more than 40,000 Venezuelans and Colombian migrants received shelter or other assistance from Denver. Trump said during the campaign he would begin his mass deportation efforts nearby, in the suburb of Aurora, because of alleged Venezuelan gang activity. Nationwide, schools are still reporting immediate drops in daily attendance during weeks when there is immigration enforcement — or even rumors of ICE raids - in their communities, said Hedy Chang of the nonprofit Attendance Works, which helps schools address absenteeism. Dozens of districts didn't respond to requests for attendance data. Some said they feared drawing the attention of immigration enforcement. In late February, González and his wife withdrew their children from school and told administrators they were returning to Venezuela. He posted a goodbye message on a Facebook group for Denver volunteers he used to find work and other help. "Thank you for everything, friends," he posted. "Tomorrow I leave with God's favor." Immediately, half a dozen Venezuelan and Colombian women asked him for advice on getting back. "We plan to leave in May, if God allows," one woman posted in Spanish. In Denver, 3,323 students have withdrawn from school through mid-April - an increase of 686 compared with the same period last year. Denver school officials couldn't explain the uptick. At the 400-student Denver elementary school Andrea Rentería heads, at least two students have withdrawn since the inauguration because of immigration concerns. One is going back to Colombia and the other didn't say where they were headed. School officials in Massachusetts and Washington state have confirmed some students are withdrawing from school to return to El Salvador, Brazil and Mexico. Haitians are trying to go to Mexico or Canada. In Chelsea, Massachusetts, a 6,000-student district where nearly half the students are still learning English, a handful of families have recently withdrawn their children because of immigration concerns. One mother in March withdrew two young children from the district to return to El Salvador, according to district administrator Daniel Mojica. Her 19-year old daughter will stay behind, on her own, to finish school - a sign that these decisions are leading to more family separation. In Bellingham, Washington, two families withdrew their children after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in early April at a local roofing company, where agents arrested fathers of 16 children attending Bellingham schools. Both families returned to Mexico, family engagement specialist Isabel Meaker said. "There's a sense, not just with these families, that it's not worth it to fight. They know the end result," Meaker said. Countries with large populations living in the United States are seeing signs of more people wanting to return home. Applications for Brazilian passports from consulates in the U.S. increased 36% in March, compared to the previous year, according to data from the Brazilian Foreign Ministry. Birth registrations, the first step to getting a Brazilian passport for a US-born child, were up 76% in April compared to the previous year. Guatemala reports a 5% increase over last year for passports from its nationals living in the United States. Last month, Melvin Josué, his wife and another couple drove four hours from New Jersey to Boston to get Honduran passports for their American-born children. It's a step that's taken on urgency in case these families decide life in the United States is untenable. Melvin Josué worries about Trump's immigration policy and what might happen if he or his wife is detained, but lately he's more concerned with the difficulty of finding work. Demand for his drywall crew immediately stopped amid the economic uncertainty caused by tariffs. There's also more reluctance, he said, to hire workers here illegally.
